[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

I remember having this feeling. For awhile, I was honestly curious to see if Saber was going to wrap up after the first 13 episodes because it really felt like the show was burning through its entire plot and building to its intended climax.

It's definitely got that From The Team That Brought You Kamen Rider Ghost thing of feeling like we're going to get a very different tone/arc for the post-movie batch of episodes, yeah. This last episode, for better or worse, has such a feeling of closure that you almost have to start fresh afterwards.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

So yeah, The King Arthur Robo. A lot of people misinterpreted how important it would be from this one episode. I?m not quite sure why, especially since it has at least two basic purposes on its own, and two involving other toys (aside from the guy in the Shroud giving Touma the prototype for his first upgrade, there?s another thing next episode which is where its importance ends).

I never care about giant robots, but I thought King of Arthur was okay as a robot that wields Kamen Riders like swords. That's a fun gimmick.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

King Arthur still sat at the Round Table and was "first among equals", so to some extent this corresponds to Toma's status as the main character. And this is, if not too deep, that the historical Arthur lived at a time when there were no kings or feudalism yet.

Ha ha, I'm not sure this show is striving for intense historical accuracy with its growing pile of myths and fables and legends, but I will allow for this interpretation of a sliver of Arthurian lore.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

About Mei being saved here, wonder what'd you think of this other "female lead totally crushing on the secondary" compared to Akiko against Terui. Now Mei has clear romantic feelings for Rintaro based on her being lovestruck like making heart-shaped hand in his fight.

I'm all for it! Mei's right to be swooning over the dutiful and humble Rintaro, while Rintaro could do worse than Mei's exuberance and forthrightness. I ship them!

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Golem literally did it in the first episode though.

I forgot that! Thanks for the reminder!

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I get what you're saying about the dreamlikeness, it has the same kind of feeling as Ryuki's HBV, with everybody suddenly having amazing friendship and co-ordination out of nowhere. Honestly though, (Akamichi) Ren saying anything can be creepy, so this is totally in-character for him.

They just look Touma dead in the eye and say "Touma" so wistfully! It was so awkward to watch!

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

While 5 was definitely still the bar to clear for me early on, this was the next episode I recall particularly liking at the time, and I like it even more now, having seen the whole show, because doing this story at this point in time just feels so quintessentially Saber? Like, I don't know, a lot of times I'd be right there criticizing pacing decisions and stuff with the rest of you. As someone who fell in love with this franchise thanks to shows like Kuuga and Faiz, I've long wished some of these newer series would just slow the heck down already, but when it comes to Saber? I'm telling you, it's gotta be this way, man -- or at least, I'd never ask it to be any other way.

Fish coming in and going All Of Your Criticisms Are Both Valid And Irrelevant is absolutely what I needed in 2023. Thank you, sincerely.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Saber is the kind of bizarre Rider show where the characters can reach this point this early on, and I don't want to understate how major a part of the appeal that is to me. Stuff like this is what makes Saber weird, and what makes Saber weird is what makes it special.

The thing that most makes it not work for me is that it's treated as some groundbreaking revelation by Touma -- we all achieve more together -- when it's sort of the template for this show? Nearly every episode features multiple Riders working together, without really anything in the way of disruptive personal drama. Ending this episode with Teamwork YEAH is like ending a Faiz episode with the shocking twist of everyone not working together well and trying to murder each other; you can't make the key element of the show the twist!